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Ube Ice Cream: It’s Purple & Delicious

I’m what you might call an ice cream fanatic and despite being lactose intolerant, I will never turn a scoop of it down. I’m also an Ube fanatic and for those of you who’ve followed along, I’ll spare you the description. Given those facts, it may seem natural that I would search out and consume a combination of the two. Well… I found it. It’s amazing.

I’m fortunate enough to have been welcomed into a Chinese-Filipino family and with it comes a tremendous honour, a surrogate father who knows where to shop. Most notably he’s pointed me in the direction of “Great One Supermarket” (On Park Rd., a block away from Richmond Centre Mall), a place that not only carries a great selection of fruit, produce, meat, and seafood, but also a lot of hard-to-find Filipino treats. It was there that I found “Ube Royale.”

“Eww, it’s purple… and isn’t ube a yam?”

Put plainly, yes, Ube Royale is yam ice cream. Although that might scare you away, you’re in for a treat if it doesn’t. It’s rich, it’s creamy, and it has a smooth, blended texture that makes it a little easier to palate than most ube treats (you know, yam ice cream that doesn’t taste like mashed potatoes). I recommend getting a litre (or two) the next time you’re in Richmond… or Manila.

Can you recommend any other ube-based treats? I’m always on the lookout.

There is a Filipino bakery/restaurant in Vancouver – West Broadway/Fir area that sells a number of ube baked goodies. My favorite is the ube roll with or without macapuno (coconut strings). You can also buy ube cake but its a bit pricey for my budget. Their website is: http://www.goldilocks.ca/

You can also get ube jam in a bottle. I think its sold in The Great One supermarket. Good as toast spread of just eating it on its own.

I second the ube roll from Goldilocks, though I prefer it without the macapuno. There’s something so delightfully wacky about eating purple cake that’s supposed to be purple. As opposed to, say, blue Kool-aid, which just seems wrong.

I’ve loved ube for so long now… I ate so much of it and wore lavender purple accents everyday to show my appreciation and dedication for this lovely yam… That’s how i received the actual name of “UBE.” My current business is even named after it… I know it seems extreme but when you live the world of lavender/ube it comes as a breath of fresh air!

This is not ice cream. SELECTA makes something called “mellorine” which uses a combo of hydrogenated vegetable oil and rendered animal fat. Check this link for details http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mellorine. Just FYI for everyone – I always look for “ice cream” not “mellorine,” “frozen dairy dessert,” or “frozen novelty dessert.” If it says anything other than ICE CREAM, it can be made with all kinds of crap.

Try the ube hopia. They’re like little cakes.. You won’t see the purple when you buy them, b/c it’s the filling on the inside; but it will be white on the outside and they will look like rolls. They usually come in packages of 5 or so. They’re delicious cold and with a glass of milk! :)